


Let Me Be Here for You

by royal_chandler



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Imported, LiveJournal, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-29
Updated: 2014-12-29
Packaged: 2018-03-04 04:32:06
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2941925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/royal_chandler/pseuds/royal_chandler
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>McCoy’s not always the strong one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Let Me Be Here for You

**Author's Note:**

> Originally published February 14, 2010.
> 
> Written for [](http://lazigyrl.livejournal.com/profile)[**lazigyrl**](http://lazigyrl.livejournal.com/) , who won me at [](http://help-haiti.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://help-haiti.livejournal.com/)**help_haiti** bids.
> 
> Beta work and inspirational cheers were provided by the lovely [thalialunacy.](http://archiveofourown.org/users/thalialunacy/pseuds/thalialunacy) Any mistakes exclusively belong to me. 
> 
> This fic takes place immediately after the first film.

When they arrive back in San Francisco, Leonard breathes in air with the soft gasps of a drowning man, allows it to swell his lungs before exhaling a sigh. He pushes a hand through his hair while marveling at the stretch of the campus surrounding him. God knows he’s cursed it plenty but right now he finds it so beautiful that he could kiss the blades of grass under his boots. 

The sentiment on his face must be as clear as the day because Jim teases him with a smile. The kind that he’s gone so long without that it’s blinding.

Leonard hides his in the wind as he rolls his eyes skyward, allowing the sun’s rays to dry the unshed tears there. 

The breeze picks up, cool and swift but it’s the racy curl in Jim’s words that places goosebumps at the nape of his neck. His dry lips are satin on the skin of Leonard’s jaw, full against the angled bone, “Buy you a drink?”

Only Jim could make a simple invitation sound so perverse, sharing it like a secret he’s created just for Leonard. However, there’s no other way that he’d rather pass the time so he agrees, and it’s worth more than anything when Jim’s smile widens at his side.

For a few hours he forgets the void of space and the overwhelming darkness.

&&&

When they reach Jim's room late in the night, Jim opens his mouth to order the lights off but Leonard ceases the request with a bruising kiss and distracts the younger man by stripping him of his clothes, taking his hard cock into a vice grip that makes him moan sweetly. 

Leonard’s so caught up in the intensity of being with Jim like this again that he doesn’t think to object the sinking of teeth into his bottom lip. It draws blood, is scalpel-sharp and Leonard almost gets sick at the metallic smell—is almost thrown back to a chaotic sickbay. He quivers in between the mattress and Jim, nerves practically jumping out from his skin while fret begins to pool in his stomach. But Jim’s there above him, surrounding him with long limbs and pressing hands and he licks the copper away in the next feverish kiss, tongue and hips working in tandem.

Running his hands along arms sleeved in sweat, Leonard urges Jim on because it’s too close a call. “Come on, Jim. Harder, baby." He arches into Jim’s fist and shoves down on his cock within split-seconds of each other. “Missed you. Need you, Jim.”

Guilt rides at him but it pales to the comfort that is Jim fucking into him without restraint and the litany of his name that follows.

They don’t call Jim Kirk a genius for nothing.

They’re flush together and Jim is drawing hearts—from what Leonard can tell—on his back, eyelashes occasionally tickling his shoulder. “Are you gonna be alright?”

Unfortunately, he has no fucking clue. “I don’t know, Jim. ‘spect I should be in time.” He buries the side of his face into the familiar scent of Jim’s pillow. “You were up there too.”

“I don’t worry about myself, Bones." The kiss and words burn on Leonard’s flesh. “You know that.”

“Not even for my sake?” Leonard wonders. It’s silent for a good while but crescents are replacing hearts so he knows that Jim is far from slumber.

“I could say the same,” Jim whispers back.

&&&

In the weeks that follow, Leonard doesn’t sleep in his single again. Funerals and ceremonies have become a daily part of the cadets’ lives and it’s a heartbreaking routine to keep up with so usually he passes out in Jim’s bed or on the floor of their room, sometimes from exhaustion and sometimes from a drunken stupor…many times both. The one constant is that Leonard’s only able to rest in the safety of Jim’s arms, where nightmares don’t dare chase him.

Except for one night when Jim comes back late after a meeting with the admirals to find Leonard turning with fits in his sleep. Jim sits up with him past the break of dawn, muttering reassurances into his ear until they became scratchy rasps. 

Jim decides to tell him about his appointed captaincy to the Enterprise two days later and Leonard holds on even tighter.

&&&

Leonard bursts into their room on the last day, waving around his PADD and demanding to Jim, who is packing the last of his bags, “Dammit, Jim! What the hell is this?”

“Well, it’s nice to see you too, Bones,” Jim says cheerily, then turns and squints at the touch screen. “I don’t know. What is it? You’re kind of far away." He gestures to his duffel that’s stuffed with PADDs of his own. "And I’m kind of occupied. Plus, I think that it’d be wise for me to keep my distance when you’ve got smoke coming out of your ears.”

“You bet your ass,” Leonard growls, but stalks toward Jim anyhow. “It’s our living arrangements, Jim.”

“Oh, that.”

“Oh, that? Were you planning on telling me that you put me down as your fiancé?”

Adding to Leonard’s rapidly growing annoyance, Jim has the nerve to look confused. “I thought you’d want us to room together. I didn’t think that I’d have to run it by you.”

His annoyance dissipates when he hears the hurt in Jim’s voice, the slight rejection that he had no intention to cause. Leonard scrubs a hand over his face, pinches the bridge of his nose. “Sharing quarters? No. Falsifying an engagement? Yes, that I’d like to get a warning about.”

“It’s not false,” Jim insists. The young captain digs through another bag, tosses a small box Leonard’s way. “Thought of it more as a formality though. I was going to wait until we were at least midway through our first year but since you’re being so uptight about it now.”

Leonard hears about half of that, is busy looking at the white gold ring he finds in the box. The rush in his ears and his thudding heart are like screaming fireworks over Jim’s quiet explanation. He removes the piece of jewelry and fits it on his left ring finger. Perfect fit but nothing less can be expected with Jim. He stares at Jim in amazement. “You’re shitting me. Why?”

Jim shifts on the balls of his feet, shrugging. Leonard can tell that he’s anything but nonchalant. “I’ve known you for three years, we’ve been seeing each other for two and we’re about to embark on a five year mission together. That’s about eight years of being stuck together, Bones. Why not forever?”

Snorting at that, Leonard steps into Jim’s space, places hands on his hips to still his swaying movements. “This is a big step for you, Jim. Are you sure that you want to do this?”

“Bones, you fucking hate space and I know that you wouldn’t be going if I weren’t,” Jim confesses, leaning into Bones. “This isn’t my way of paying you back or anything like that because I’m not entirely sure that I ever could but this is me telling you that I’m always going to be with you. Okay? You choosing me fucking blows my mind but I’m really, really grateful that you are. I know that I annoy the hell out of you but as long as you’re committed…well, so am I.”

Leonard kisses him and when he’s desperate for oxygen, he continues because he’ll always need Jim more. 

Pulling back, he keeps their lips touching, shudders, and rests his forehead against Jim’s. “Alright.”

“Good,” Jim declares. He smirks brightly. “Enough of the romantic crap! How about we get to the celebratory fucking?”

While thumbing the button of his trousers, Leonard quickly kisses him again. “Sounds like a plan to me.”

&&&

“You didn’t have to do this, Jim,” Leonard says some hours later when they’re on the shuttle, seated and waiting for take-off. They’d narrowly made it aboard, first taking a speedy detour to city hall. 

Jim regards Leonard with a bemused expression. “16.”

It sure as hell wouldn’t be the last time but Jim once again takes him by surprise. “What?”

“That’s your sixteenth attempt on trying to give me an out,” Jim explains. “I know that divorces were on an exponential rise a couple hundred years ago, Bones but I think that we’d be setting some sort of record if we were to end things now.” 

“But Jim…”

Uncaring of spying eyes, Jim quiets Leonard with an assuring kiss. He pulls back with tinted cheeks and a wide smile. “You’re the best decision I’ve ever made, Bones.”

With that, Leonard stops fighting. He can’t even begin to think of anymore counters to the younger man’s argument and he feels himself not wanting to. He takes a good look at his lover turned husband—always a friend. He sees what he’s always been thankful to have and unwilling to let go of. He sees the truth of Jim’s words, a tiny portion of the sheer happiness that practically radiates off of him.

Sparks trigger and bowl Leonard over when he finally realizes that while this impromptu hitching may mean the world to him, it’s an entire collection of galaxies to Jim.

The scrap of metal they’re enclosed in shakes as it starts to hover but Leonard is letting Jim know there’s no longer anything to worry about when he locks and squeezes their fingers together. 

The heaviness and dread in Leonard fades away as he and Jim continue to soar into the stars, the blue in Jim's eyes dulling the black around them.

&&&

Their new lives are uneventful for about a week before Jim ends up in sickbay. 

Leonard’s taken care of the wounds, completed surgery about four hours ago but Jim’s still unconscious and Leonard can only wait impatiently until he wakes up. There’s no telling when that’s going to be so Leonard proceeds to lay vigil at his side, tries to quell the worry that’s been plaguing him since Spock brought their broken captain back onboard.

“Negotiations will be seamless, my ass,” Leonard mutters under his breath, knuckling the regenerated skin of Jim’s cheek. “Why don’t you wake up and tell me all about it?” 

The only response he receives is the continuing beep of the machines.

Leonard fits closer to Jim, keeps his hand over the lively beats of his heart. He yawns and orders the computer to lessen that lights that illuminate the sickbay, leaving them in the shadows.

Leonard’s almost asleep when Jim stirs, groaning, “Bones?”

His heart frees itself from a bind. Pressing his lips to Jim’s neck, Leonard answers, “Right here. How are you feeling?”

He moves to grab his tricorder but Jim stills his actions with the plea of, "Don't go."

His head pulling one way and his heart the other, Leonard concedes and settles back against Jim. "Okay. I checked your vitals not too long ago so you should be alright for the next couple of hours. I'm going to have to invest in hair product with all of the grays you're giving me, kid."

Jim mumbles and Leonard can't make it all out but he can hear the apology in Jim's tone.

“You’re really warm,” Jim says softly and with great appreciation while turning slowly toward Leonard. 

Speaking lowly, Leonard strokes Jim’s hair gently. “Guess that the leaders’ animosity wasn’t the only cold aspect of the planet?”

Jim shivers and keeps quiet, only fists the blues of Leonard’s uniform.

Despite his earlier request, Leonard suddenly decides that he doesn’t need to hear anything—not until Jim’s ready. He tugs the regulation sheets farther up Jim’s profile. “You don’t have to say anything, darlin’. Go back to sleep if you want. I’m not going anywhere.”

Leonard feels safe enough for the both of them.

 

**fin**


End file.
